Vitreous panel having anchoring means and method of making the same



Nov. 14, 1933. w. N. THURN 1,935,534

VITREOUS PANEL HAVING ANCHOHING MEANS AND METHOD OF MAKING THE SAME Filed Jan. 27. 1930 I72 [/8 72 for- Zzfa ZfePMT/Zurn,

'; or outer walls and ceilings.

Patented Nov. 14, 1933 UNITED; STA

VITREOUS PANEL' HAVING ANOHORING MEANS AND METHOD OF MAKING THE SAME - Walter N. Thurn, Chicago, 111., assignor to The I Vitrolite Company, a

ginia corporation of West Vir- Application January 27, 1930. Serial No. 423,695

11 Claims.

The present invention relates to panels of opaque vitreous material, that is panels formed from a molten batch that will produce an opaque structural glass having any desired color. 5. As explained in my companion application Serial Number 423,694, the field of usefulness of these panels has heretofore been limited because of their comparative fragility and the difficulty of effectively securing them to the faces of inner v The usual method of anchoring these panels has been to cut holes into the same from the back and insert suitable expansion devices in these holes. The holes are required to be deep in comparison with the thick- 15: ness of the panel, and there has been much breakage due to weakening of the panels at the anchoring points.

In my aforesaid application I have disclosed a novel form of panel of this type and method '20 of making the same; a sheet of expanded metal or'other suitable reinforcing structure being embedded in the panel close to the back face or side.

The object of the present invention is to make it possible to provide this new type of panel with effective anchoring means in a simple manner and at a low cost, and without weakening the panel structure. By reason of the fact that the reinforcing '30 fabric lies near the rear face of the panel, any

portion of thefabric or any special anchoring devices connected therewith can be readily exposed without cutting deeply into the body of the paneljso that the panel need not be weak- .35iened, nor need the operation of exposing the anchoring elements require any considerable time or labor. For example, small areas of the vitreous material may be sand-blasted or otherwise cut away on the rear side so as to expose 461 the expanded metal and permit separate anchoring elements, such as wires or the like, to be attached; or the thin covering layer of vitreous material along some or all of the marginalportions of the reinforcing fabric may be cut away '45-: or broken away so as to permit these marginal portions to be bent laterally and project as anchors; or individual anchors may each be attached at one end to the fabric and laid flat against the under side of the same before the '50; casting is made, so that after the panel has been formed the small individual anchors may readily be picked out of the vitreous material and swung outwardly at a right or other angle to the rear face.

The various features of novelty whereby my invention is characterized will hereinafter be pointed out with particularity in the claims; but, for a full understanding of my invention and of its objects and advantages, reference may be had to the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, wherein: u

Figure I is a rear view of a fragmentof one of my improved panels, showing one form of anchoring means; Fig. 2 is a section on'line 2-2 of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a rear view of another panel, illustrating a second form of anchoring means; Fig. 4 is a section on line 44 of Fig. 3; Fig. 5 is a view similar to Figs. 1 and 3, illustrating a third form of anchoring means; and Fig. 6 is a section on line 6-601 Fig. 5.

Referring. to the drawing, 1 represents an opaque vitreous panel having a sheet of expanded metal 2 embedded in the same and lying parallel with and close to the rear face.

The panels as shown in Figs. 1 to 4 are cast as plain panels containing the reinforcing fabric. In order to provide anchoring means, some of the vitreous material may be broken or cut away along oneor more'of the margins of the reinforcing'fabric, as indicated at '3 in Figs. 1 and 2; and the marginal portion or portions of the fabric may then be bent outwardly, as indicated at 4, to produce an anchor or anchors.

If desired, sections of any desired width and length may be cut away at any desired points or along any desired lines on the back of the panel to expose such portions of the reinforcing fabric as are required or will be advantageous in the particular situation in which the panel may be used. In Figs. 3 and 4, I have shown an arrangement in which there are individual small cavities or recesses 5 cut into the rear face of the panel in alignment with each other; thereby eX-- posing portions of the reinforcing fabric to permit wires or other anchoring means to be threaded through the same or be engaged therewith.

In Figs. 5 and 6 there is shown a construction which is produced by attaching to the reinforcing fabric individual anchors that may be in the form of rings 6, or be of any other suitablestyle that will lie flat against the fabric. When makingthe panel the fabric is laid on the casting table with these anchoring elements on'the under side in about the position shown in Fig. 5, When the molten vitreous material is imposed upon the fabric it embeds not only the latter but also the individual anchoring elements or, at least, the greater part of such elements- Then, at the points where these anchoring elements occur, the vitreous material is chipped or otherwise cut away from the rear face of the panel to form a recess or cavity 7 wherein the anchoring elements are exposed. The anchoring ele ments may then be swung out at right angles to the plane of the panel as indicated in Fig. 6, being of course, allowed to lie within the cavities while the panels are in storage or being shipped.

It will be seen that in all of the examples ofmy invention the panel is effectively anchored directly from the reinforcing fabric, so that the stresses are distributed throughout the entire panel; the vitreous material need be removed to only a very small depth, so that the body of the panel is not weakened; and the work required to be done to place the panels in condition for use after they have been cast requiresvery little time or skill on the part of the workman. Consequently my improved panels are afforded very effective anchoring means without deterioration in quality and at small expense, and the field of usefulness of panels of this kind is greatly extended.

While I have illustrated and described with particularity only a few preferred examples of my invention, I do not desire to be limited to the exact structural details thus illustrated and described; but intend to cover all forms and arrangements which come within the definitions of my invention constituting the appended claims.

'1. A vitreous panel having reenforcing metal embedded therein, small sections of the panel being removed from one side thereof to expose the metal.

2. The method of producing. a reenforced panel having means for anchoring the same to a support, which consists in casting a panel of vitreous material upon a metal reenforcing, and removing small sections from the back of the panel to expose the metal.

3. The method of producing a reenforced panel having means for anchoring the same to a sup port, which consists in casting a panel of vitreous material upon a sheet of expanded metal, removing some of the vitreous material along an edge of the expanded metal, and bending the exposed marginal portion of the expanded metal outwardly.

4. The method of producing a reenforced panel having on one side means for anchoring the same to a support, which consists in casting a panel of vitreous material upon a reenforcing metal structure in a manner to cause portions of said structure to lie inwardly of and near one face, and then removing small sections of the vitreous -material from said face to expose the aforesaid portions of the metal structure to be exposed.

5. The method of producing a reenforced panel having means for anchoring the same to a sup port, which consists in casting a panel of vitreous material upon a reenforcing structure having anchoring elements in such a manner that said structure is embedded in the body of the panel, and then removing enough of the vitreous material to expose theanchoring elements.

6. A panel of opaque vitreous material having embedded therein near and parallel to one broad face, a comparatively stiff sheet of expanded metal, and anchoring elements extending fromthe main body of the sheet through said face.

,7. A panel of opaque vitreous material having embedded therein a sheet of expanded metal lying parallel with one of the broad faces of the panel, small sections of thepanel being removed from one of the broad faces to expose the expanded metal.

8. Apanel of opaque vitreous material having embedded therein a sheet of expanded metal lying, close and parallel to oneof the broad facesof the panel, and anchoring elements extending from the main body of the expanded metal through said broad face of the panel.

9. A panel of opaque vitreous material having embedded therein a sheet of expanded metal lying close and parallel to one of the broad faces of the panel, small sections of the panel being removed from said face to expose the expanded metal, and anchoring elements extending out- Wardly beyond said face from the exposed areas of the expanded metal.

10. A panel of opaque vitreous material having embedded therein a sheet of expandedmetal, 1

the expanded metal, and anchoring rings engaged 2 with the exposed portions of the expanded metal and extending outwardly through saidface of the panel.

WALTER N. THURN. 

